


A Sea Salt Christmas

by Feanicks



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Kingdom Hearts III - Re Mind DLC Spoilers, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21903802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feanicks/pseuds/Feanicks
Summary: With Roxas and Xion never having celebrated Christmas before, Axel aims for them to have the best Christmas experience ever.
Relationships: Axel & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Isa & Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Isa & Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. Christmas Baking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Christmas Fluff for the Seasalt Trio.  
>  Enjoy!  
> 

/In the afternoon of Christmas Eve/

The whole kitchen smelled like a Christmas bakery as Roxas took the cookies out of the oven and put the tray on the table to cool off.

“I think they look okay.” Roxas mused, inspecting the outcome and then looking at Xion, who was just finishing off clearing the mess they created while baking. “Xion?”

“Well, we did everything according to the recipe, so it should be fine."

“They do look like cookies alright”, Axel commented, having silently sneaked into the kitchen behind Roxas and reaching for the cookies. Roxas swatted at his protruding hand.

“Oi, hands off!”

”Hey, I gave you the recipe, I totally participated in making them!”

Roxas chuckled. “In either case, they’re still hot, Axel.”

“As if I’m bothered by that,” the redhead retorted, taking a cookie and putting it nonchalantly into his mouth, grinning. 

Roxas huffed, with a mixture of indignation and amusement. "But just this one!” he said and prodded one of the cookies, deciding they were definitely far too hot still for him to try. 

“They’re good!” Axel exclaimed, munching happily.

Roxas looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah. Exactly like I remember them. Well done, you two!” Axel smiled at both of them, hand ruffling through Roxas’ hair, who was beaming up at him.

Xion smiled too, until she saw Axel’s other hand dangerously close to the cookies again. 

“No, Axel, they’re for later!” she chided, hands on her hips. 

“Alright, alright”, Axel sighed. 

“By the way, I’ve gotten some decorations, you wanna start with decorating the tree?” 

“Yeah!” Roxas’ eyes started gleaming.

“Yes, that would be great!” Xion added.

“So let’s head over to the living room, shall we?”

Roxas didn’t need to be told twice and sprinted off to the Christmas tree, while Xion giggled and followed at a distinctly slower pace. 

“Thanks for arranging everything, Axel,” she said appreciatively while passing the redhead. 

“Nah, don’t mention it”, Axel looked away, but smiled, hand running through his hair. “Go on, get going, or Roxas will have finished everything without us”.

Xion nodded smiling and left the kitchen. Axel decided to take a detour via the baking tray. 

“Don’t you dare!” Xion’s voice came ringing through the door. 

“But they’re so good! Ah, alright.” Axel put the cookie back on the tray and headed to the living room.


	2. Decorating the Christmas Tree

/Christmas Eve, afternoon/

When Axel arrived in the living room, Roxas was already busy putting Christmas baubles and candy canes onto the tree, while Xion was disentangling red tinsel. 

“Should we have both red and silver tinsel or just red?” Xion asked, addressing both Roxas and Axel.

Roxas stepped back, looked at the tree and then down to a few pictures lying on the table close to where he was standing. Axel had given them a few pictures of stereotypical Christmas trees, so the two would have a bit of guidance on what could be put onto the tree and which combination might work well. It was not like they hadn’t seen any Christmas trees in the recent weeks while strolling through Twilight Town, still they had been glad when he had asked them if they wanted some pictures for orientation. 

“Mmh, I think both might be too much,” Roxas answered, turning around slightly. “What do you think, Axel?”

“I’d say so, too. The red tinsel would be enough.”

Xion nodded. “Alright.”

“Even more so because we’re adding some more things to the tree”, Axel said and took a small cardboard box from a shelf only he could reach without any difficulties. 

“What do you mean?” Roxas turned around again and looked at the box curiously. 

“Well, in my opinion, we should make this tree special. Like adding our own touch to it, you know?” Axel replied, put the box on the table and removed the lid. Inside, they could see a ball of yarn, scissors, some felt pens and a silly amount of popsicle sticks.

Both Xion and Roxas looked at the contents for a few seconds before Roxas burst out with a cheer: “Axel, that’s awesome!”

The redhead grinned. “Glad you like it”.

“What are the pens for?” Xion inquired.

“We use them to make our own winner sticks”, Axel exclaimed, holding a stick and one of the pens out triumphantly.

Roxas looked like Santa Claus came early. “That is sooo brilliant.”

Axel handed Roxas the pen. “There you go.”

“Thanks.”

“And one for you, Xion.”

“Thanks, Axel.”

Roxas took a handful of sticks out of the box and looked at them. 

“So that’s why you have been so eager cleaning up after our sessions on the Clocktower lately,” Roxas commented, grinning and throwing a glance at the redhead.

“Someone’s got me there,” Axel chuckled.

Xion examined the sticks more closely. There were already small holes punched into the sticks. 

“Have you put the holes in there, Axel?”

“Nah, thank Ienzo for that, one of his crazy machines was able to put the holes in without the sticks breaking. My attempt of using a nail and hammer hadn’t worked out to well”, Axel said laughing. "But that way and with the yarn, we can put the sticks a lot easier onto the tree." 

“That’s amazing,” Xion said in awe. 

Axel smiled at the two warmly. “So, let’s make this tree OUR Christmas tree.” 

And the three of them eagerly set to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are meant to be multi-chapter 'drabbles', showing several scenes of the trio and how they celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I love this trio to bits, and this story is written as a form of appreciation and to shower them with fluff they deserve so much.


	3. Waiting for Santa (Part I)

/Christmas Eve, late evening/

After decorating the tree and eating Christmas Dinner Axel, Roxas and Xion went back to the living room. Xion had transferred the cookies onto a big plate and was carrying them over from the kitchen, while Roxas put a glass of milk on the table next to the tree. Axel was carrying four stockings with him and hung them up next to the fireplace. “Ah, that should be Isa,” Axel said when the doorbell rang and went for the door. A few moments later, Axel emerged followed by a dishevelled Isa.

“The weather is terrible outside,” the blue-haired man stated with a huff.

“Well, now you’re safe and sound in our cosy home and you can warm up after your trip. Hey, whadda ya think of our signature tree?” Axel asked and motioned to the Christmas tree.

Isa looked at the tree and blinked. “You didn’t.”

“As you can see, we did. So, what's your opinion?”

“Well, the tree unmistakenly fits this household.”

“That means it’s awesome,” Axel said grinning, Roxas and Xion giggling alongside. “Well, Isa, sit down and make yourself comfortable. I go get you guys some hot chocolate, be back in a bit.”

As Axel left the room, Isa snorted and sat down in the armchair. Roxas was sitting on the couch, while Xion had taken the rocket chair and was slightly rocking back and forth. Both looked a bit uncertain but not rejecting towards Isa. They had already come a long way interacting and getting along with each other, yet there was still room for improvement. All sides were trying, though. So he decided to give it a go and turned to Roxas and Xion.

“How was dinner?”

“Oh, it was great. There was lots eat and the food was really yummy,” Xion replied. 

“I’m not a fan of plum pudding, though,” Roxas commented with a grimace.

“That’s fair enough,” Isa said with a hint of a smile.

“You’re too much used to ice cream being the only form of dessert, Roxas,” Xion reprimanded him.

“Ice cream is THE best form of dessert. Either way, I still don’t like plum pudding any better.”

“Well, I liked it,” Xion said and stuck her tongue out, which was mirrored by Roxas. 

“I actually put some sea salt in the hot chocolate so that Roxas may be more willing to try it,” Axel commented as he slipped back into the living room, carrying a tray with four mugs and a bowl with marshmallows. “That way, we’re having sea salt hot chocolate,” he grinned. He set the tray on the table and handed out the mugs. When he reached Roxas, the blond was looking down and shuffling with one of his feet. “You didn’t have to do that,” he mumbled.

“But I wanted to. And you know, it’s supposed to taste better with some salt in, it’s a good excuse to try that tonight. Here,” the redhead said and handed Roxas the mug.

“Thanks,” Roxas said with a small smile and took it in both hands.

“Be careful, guys, it’s still hot,” Axel warned, “Take the time it cools down to put some marshmallows in if you want. Given your love for peppermint tea, Xion, I also have some mint syrup to put in if you fancy.” Xion looked up with round eyes. “Oh yes, I’d like to try, please!” Axel chuckled and took a small bottle out of one of his pockets. “There you go. Don’t put too much in, you just need a few drops.”

Xion took the bottle with a bright smile and went to work with her drink.

“Ewww”, Roxas commented with a shudder, meanwhile plopping a heap of marshmallows into his mug.

“You just don’t know what’s good, Roxas,” Xion stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I’m alright with my taste, thank you,” Roxas replied and sipped carefully at his hot chocolate. “It’s good.”

“Really?” Axel asked.

“Yeah, I like the taste.”

“Glad to hear that,” the redhead said smiling.

“Better than ice cream?” Xion ventured.

“Never.”

“It was never meant as a contender for that,” Axel laughed. “Xion, Isa, what about you?”

“I like it a lot,” Xion said happily. “The mint is great with it, too!”

“Same here, Lea,” Isa put in. “It’s also great for warming up after this awful storm outside. Thanks.”

“Nah, I’m happy you guys like it.”

“Don’t forget to drink yours, Axel,” Roxas said smiling, nudging the mug closer to the redhead. 

“On it,” Axel said with a grin, took his mug and sat down on the couch next to Roxas. The four of them sat in silence for a while, enjoying their drinks and each other’s company.


	4. Waiting for Santa Claus (Part 2)

Waiting for Santa Claus (Part 2)

/Christmas Eve, late evening/

The logs in the fireplace were still crackling merrily. 

On the smaller table close to the fire, one small plate with cookies and a glass of milk was set aside, while another, larger plate was situated in the middle of the living room table. Its content had been diminished quite a bit already, all four of them munching on their cookies. The mugs were still there, but filled with milk or tea this time.

“Hey, Axel?” Roxas asked after finishing a cookie.

“Yeah?”

“Why does Santa Claus have two names?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jack Skellington called him Sandy... Is that his nickname?”

Axel looked confused. “Sandy? That’s not a common name for Santa Claus. You sure you heard it right?”

“I think so…”

“I heard Sandy too,” Xion added. 

“Huh. Maybe it’s a Halloween Town thing?” 

“Well, it might be.”

“But you guys have actually seen Santa. What’s he like?” Axel implored. 

“I don’t know…… he’s really old?” Roxas began.

Everyone chuckled at that.

“He seemed kind,” Xion pondered, “And he looks like the version you see on posters or in movies.” 

“Oh, did you know that Sora is on the naughty list?” Roxas snickered. 

Axel looked at Roxas. “You’re joking.”

“Am not,” Roxas said grinning.

“No way! How did he end up on there?”

“When he was younger, he told his friends that Santa Claus didn’t exist,” Roxas explained.

“The mightiest crime of all,” Isa commented.

“Wouldn’t have guessed Sora of all people had it in him,” Axel said with a bemused grin.

“Apparently Riku told him first.”

“Ah. Now Riku on the other hand…” Axel started. 

“Riku is not a bad person,” Xion cut in. 

“He’s definitely on the naughty list,” Roxas objected, "Him telling Sora about a non-existent Santa would be enough already." 

Axel nibbled on his cookie, thinking. “To be honest, he did quite a few bad things in the past, but given all of his latest actions, he’d deserve to be put on the nice list now.”

Roxas grumbled but didn’t say anything further.

"But you're right, not believing in Santa Claus and passing this non-belief onto others might actually be worse in Santa's eyes," Axel concluded. Roxas seemed to be content with that and took another cookie. 

“Donald and Goofy are on the nice list, by the way,” Xion commented. 

“The duck is nice?” Axel asked incredulously. 

“According to Santa, he is,” Xion replied with a giggle. 

“Perhaps Santa's acted in doubt for the accused and he’s only been put on the nice list because people don’t get what he’s actually saying,” Axel tried to rationalize. 

“Well, all I can say about him is that Sora was pretty frustrated with him at times,” Roxas said and added grinning, “at least in Sora’s view, he could have been more helpful in some situations.” 

“Very believable,” Axel stated.

“But we don’t really know him, maybe we should stop roasting him,” Roxas conceded. 

“Ha, no, I think we should add some orange sauce.” 

“Axel!” Xion exclaimed. 

“It wasn’t me who started it!”

“He’s just adding fuel to the fire. Or should I say sauce to the roast?” Isa commented wryly. 

“What… oh,” it dawned to Roxas. He began giggling, soon followed by Axel who ruffled his hair.

“You are all terrible,” Xion huffed, but was smiling. 

The others returned her smile and it went quiet for a while. 

“…Would we be on the nice list?” Xion asked thoughtfully. 

“Well, I don’t think I am,” Axel started after a moment of silence, “too much naughty behavior on both Axel’s and Lea’s side.” 

“I believe I will not be on the nice list, either,” Isa continued.

“I don’t really know about me..." Roxas said, "But if Sora is not on the nice list, I don't think I will be.” He turned to Xion, “I think everyone but Xion might be on the naughty list for one reason or another…” 

“I agree,” Isa stated.

“You really think so?” Xion asked them with wide eyes. 

“Yeah, I’d say so too,” Axel replied. “So, Xion, you are the only ‘nice’ person here,” he laughed. “In my view, Roxas is a close second, though.” He nudged Roxas who smiled up at him. “Maybe we can all redeem ourselves given time.” 

“You’ve always been an optimist, Lea,” Isa stated.

“And that’s something that will never change,” Axel countered grinning. “But it’s getting late. We still have presents to unwrap in the morning!”

“Yeah, you’re right!” Roxas exclaimed excitedly and made to collect the empty mugs. 

Isa got up too. “I think I will take my leave then,” he announced.

“You can stay if you want, the offer still stands. The couch is comfy!” Axel said. 

“No, I’m alright. But thank you.” He turned to address them all, “It was a nice evening.”

“Safe journey back home!” Xion said.

“Yeah, good night,” Roxas added.

“Don’t forget your present.” Axel went to the tree and retrieved one of the parcels, while Isa was putting on his cloak. “From Xion, Roxas and me.”

“Thank you. Good night then, and Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Isa,” Lea said and closed the door after Isa had left. He turned to Roxas and Xion, who looked tired but happy. 

“Well, short clean up session and then off to bed!” While the other two were cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen, Axel went back to the living room, put some ash over the still feebly glowing embers of the fireplace to fully smother the fire and then switched off the lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the story still continues!  
> I had the option of either completing it sometime in the course of this year or wait for the following Christmas to come, and I thought it more fitting to go for the latter, even though it was a fairly long wait. Reagrdless of this, I hope you enjoy! :)


	5. Chrstmas Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas Day in Twilight Town!  
> This chapter is significantly longer than the other ones, you'll just be warned :D  
> As usual, enjoy reading!

Christmas Day

/ Christmas Day, morning / 

Axel was sitting on the couch with a mug in his hands, when Xion entered the living room the next morning. 

“Hey, you’re finally awake,” Axel greeted her with a grin. 

“Good morning, Axel,” Xion greeted back. 

“Good morning, Xion,” Axel replied, “There are some scrambled eggs and bacon in the kitchen if you want to eat something before we start with the gifts.”

“I’m alright, thanks,” Xion said and took a seat in the armchair. 

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Roxas said cheerfully when he joined them. 

“But it’s not late. Why are you two up so early?” Xion wondered. 

“We still had to collect a present,” Roxas explained. “And it is a surprise for you, that’s why you couldn’t join us.”

“But you didn’t have to do anything special for me,” Xion said quietly. 

“Maybe not, but we wanted to,” Axel countered grinning. Xion looked down, but had a small smile on her lips. 

Roxas looked at the pile of presents underneath the Christmas tree. “Where do we begin?”

“We can start with these,” Axel suggested, pointing at three colourful parcels. “These are the ones from the Three Good Fairies.”

“Alright,” Roxas replied, “I guess it’s clothes of some sort?”

“Could well be. Let’s find out,” Axel said taking his parcel and starting to unwrap it.

And true enough, the three soon were presented with fluffy pullovers.

“Are these special pullovers?” Roxas asked.

“Yeah, they’re called Christmas jumpers,” Axel explained. “I sort of suspected that when they gave us the parcels, otherwise you guys would have gotten jumpers from me. But I couldn’t have competed with the Good Fairies. As far as I can see, they are customized to each of us. These are pretty neat.” 

“They are!” Xion exclaimed. Hers was a mostly black jumper with white snowflake patterns, but there were also a few blue seashells strewn across. “I like mine a lot,” she stated happily. 

“Mine is pretty awesome too,” Roxas said, holding his one up. His jumper was predominantly white but was checkered with black at each hem and it sported small black snowflakes all over. The front featured a big black Christmas tree with some white dots that seemed to represent the candles. 

To no one’s surprise, Axel’s was the most colourful of the three. The base was a dark red and featured lines of white snowflakes alternating with lines of an orange and yellow pattern that looked like small flames. 

“Look, there’s a note attached to them,” Roxas said and read out the note:

“Dear Roxas, 

What a better a gift than a warm jumper to warm up your Christmas? As you might suspect already, this is no ordinary Christmas jumper. We put an extra spell on it so that you will always be comfortably warm when you’re wearing it, no matter how cold it is around you. 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather”

“That’s really nice,” Xion commented. 

“We can wear them when we go visit Arendelle!” Roxas proclaimed.

“That’s a smart idea, Rox,” Axel said, “We definitely stay warm then. You guys want to put them on now?” Axel asked. 

“Yeah!” Roxas replied, took off his jacket and pulled the jumper over his head. Axel and Xion did likewise. 

“They’re really comfy,” Xion marvelled. 

“They are. And we look a lot more Christmassy right now,” he said laughing. “Let’s have a look at the other presents, shall we?”

They worked through the pile of presents. Xion got a collection of different seashells from Hayner, Pence and Olette and Roxas got two new struggle bats from the trio. They weren’t blue as the standard one, though, but one was a silverish white and the other was black, referencing to Roxas’s keyblades, which amused Roxas a lot. Axel got a new frisbee featuring a picture of a chakram from Isa. All three of them were given paintings from Naminé, and they agreed on hanging them up on the walls in the afternoon. Terra, Aqua and Ven sent them wayfinders, a light blue one for Xion, a dark yellow one for Roxas and a red one for Axel. Sora was still missing, Kairi was in this perpetual sleeping state and Riku was desperate finding clues about Sora’s whereabouts, but they hoped their present at least reached Riku to cheer him up.

They were sitting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, when they moved on to the presents for each other. 

“Roxas, how about you first?” Axel asked.

“Well, I won’t say no,” Roxas laughed.

Axel went to the pile, retrieved a small box and solemnly handed it to Roxas. “Here ya go.”

Roxas took it and looked quizzically at the small parcel in his hand. “What is this?”

“Well, open it, then you’ll know,” Axel prompted grinning. Roxas tore away the paper and opened the lid of what he guessed was some sort of jewelry gift box. “Wha-,” he gasped, looking up at Axel with wide eyes. “How?” 

“This is not the original one, as you know it doesn’t exist anymore. But as you can get a blue marble from another struggle trophy, I thought you should get a special one,” Axel stated.

Roxas looked down at the blue marble that was securely residing on the jewelry cushion and carefully picked it up. He realized it was a bit bigger than the other one, and something was glimmering inside. 

“There’s a small hologram of Twilight Town in there. Chip and Dale are the wizards creating the hologram, by the way.” 

Roxas was struck speechless. He went to the window and held the marble into the morning light. He could see a miniature outline of Twilight Town shimmering brightly.

“Like this, you can always carry a bit of home with you, no matter where you are,” Axel added. 

Roxas was quiet for a long time, still looking at the marble. Then he carefully put into one of his trouser pockets and turned away from the window. “This is great,” Roxas said with slightly teary eyes, but smiling, “Thank you.”

“Glad you like it,” Axel replied, ruffling his hair when Roxas sat back down. 

“We got you another present,” Xion announced and Roxas’s foot with another parcel. 

“But… you didn’t have to,” Roxas started.

“We wanted to,” Xion echoed Axel’s comment from before, earning a chuckle from both. He picked up the gift and was soon looking at a small book with a handwritten title on the front. 

“Book of Memories?” he read out. 

“We asked people you know to write down memories connected to you. It could be how they got to know you, a favourite memory or something like that,” Xion explained. 

“There are still pages left for new people, but it’s pretty full already,” Axel remarked.

“Really?” Roxas began browsing through the book. It started with entries from Axel and Xion, followed by Isa and Hayner, Pence and Olette. Then there was Naminé, Ven, Aqua, Terra, Riku, Ienzo, Demyx, Aeleus and Dilan… King Mickey and Queen Minnie had written something down, Chip and Dale, Donald and Goofy too (Maybe the duck was nice after all).

“There’s so many…” he said utterly amazed. He even saw entries from Peter Pan, Scrooge McDuck and the owner of the ice cream place. They all took the time to write something just for him.

“Just making sure you are aware that people know and care about you,” Axel said quietly. 

He had been emotional before because of the first present, but now he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Tears started running down his face. 

“Hey, come here,” Axel moved so that Roxas was leaning against him and he was able to rub his back to soothe. Xion took one of Roxas’s hands and squeezed. His other hand was tightly holding onto the book. After a while, the hiccoughing and sniffing died down and Roxas wiped his eyes with his Christmas jumper sleeve. 

“Thank you,” he said with a slightly croaky voice. 

“No need to thank us. Everyone was eager to give it a go and write something down in there," Axel smiled. "But we put it away for now. You can read all the entries later.”

“Now it’s your turn, Axel,” Xion decided. 

“Alright, bring it on.” Axel sat up and quickly unwrapped the parcel Xion had handed him.

He opened the box, looked inside and laughed out loud. “You got me the Moai tissue dispenser!” he exclaimed grinning. 

He reached inside and proudly presented the statue to the other two.

“I hope you are aware that this will have a permanent spot on the living room table now.”

“I guess we can live with that,” Roxas said chuckling. Then he reached towards the pile of gifts again. 

“Wait, there’s more?”

“Yeah. Well, I think this is a bit like a present for all of us. But you are the official keeper, because you got stuff memorized,” Roxas said grinning and handed him two parcels. One seemed to be a book of sorts. As soon as he unwrapped it, it dawned on him what it was, and he opened the hitherto empty pages of a photo album. 

“That’s a great idea,” Axel said smiling. He was already suspecting what might be in the other parcel. His assumption proofed correct when he held an instant camera in his hands a few moments later. 

He smirked, and before Roxas or Xion could react, they were blinded by a flashlight. 

“And we have the first picture to go into the album,” Axel smirked while the camera was printing. 

There was a chorus of “not fair!” and “we weren’t prepared!”, but then Roxas got up and said excitedly: “Let’s take a picture with the tree and the Christmas jumpers on!” The other two didn’t need to be told twice and joined Roxas, all three of them positioning themselves in front of the Christmas tree. Axel took the camera and angled it so that all of them were in the picture and the tree could be seen properly. They took a few pictures, some with normal poses, some with silly ones, and after selecting the best photos, the pictures were added to the album. 

“I think we will have a lot of fun with this,” Axel said with a grin. 

“So, I guess, it’s only me left then.” Xion turned to the remaining presents but was halted by Axel. 

“Don’t open these ones just yet, it would give away your main present.”

“My main present?” Xion asked curiously. 

“Roxas?” Axel turned to the blond.

“On my way!” Roxas got up and left the room. He returned after a short while, carrying a big white box tied with a red ribbon. He was holding it very carefully, as though something very delicate was inside the box. 

“What is it?” Xion asked perplexed.

“You’ll see soon,” Roxas replied as he placed the box in front of Xion. “Go on, open it!” 

Xion looked at the box and noticed some small holes on top. As she made to remove the gift wrap ribbon, the box began to rattle and Xion shied back. 

“What…” 

“Just continue, it’s nothing bad,” Axel encouraged her. 

Xion hesitated, but then picked up where she had left and soon enough, the ribbon was gone. She looked at Axel and Roxas, who were smiling at her and lifted the lid, only to be greeted by a black and white snout poking out as soon as it had the chance to do so. 

“Oh my gosh!” Xion squealed, basically tore off the lid and lifted a puppy dalmatian out of its confinement. The young dog had its tail wagging in excitement and desperately tried to lick the face of its new owner. Xion hugged the small puppy close and Axel and Roxas weren’t sure if she started laughing or crying, but decided it was best to go and hug her either way. 

After Xion had calmed down a little, Axel spoke up. “So, I was talking to Queen Minnie about how to get a nice dog, as you obviously loved taking care of Pluto, and she jotted down a note which allowed me to pick up one of the dalmatians.” He slightly bumped the yapping puppy’s snout with his finger. “Me and Roxas went to the place and we thought this one was the cutest. And I guess we were lucky this little puppy fell asleep on the way home," Axel laughed. "It’s a boy, by the way.”

“He is gorgeous,” Xion managed to choke out.

“He doesn’t have a name yet, so how do you wanna call him?” Roxas asked.

Xion was quiet for a bit, petting the dog all the while, its tail still wagging wildly. 

“This is Dots,” she proclaimed at last, smiling. Both Axel and Roxas chuckled. 

“Welcome to your new home, Dots,” Roxas said warmly. 

“You know, Isa had a dog when he was younger and he said if you have any questions, he’s happy to help as well as he can. And we also help you, of course,” Axel said. 

“The other parcels contain dog food, a leash, a dog bed and stuff. You should be all set and ready,” Roxas continued. “Hayner, Pence, Olette, Isa and Queen Minnie contributed to those.”

“You two are wonderful,” Xion said smiling. 

“So, you guys. You enjoyed your first Christmas?” Axel asked the other two, when all the wrapping and empty boxes had been cleared away and they had put their presents into their rooms or to their destined places. 

“Yeah! Christmas is awesome. Can’t wait for next year,” Roxas said happily. 

“Me too, I had great time,” Xion commented, scratching behind Dots’ ears, who kept trailing after her. 

“Good. I had fun too,” Axel said with a smile.

“I’ll definitely keep this Christmas in my memory,” Roxas stated smiling.

“Forever,” Xion declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :)


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